Reader asks: We are paying for a timeshare that we can no longer afford. The interest rate is 11% and the maintenance fees are killing us. We could not use it last year and missed the deadline to convert to points. Can we just walk away? We are so stressed.

Jason Heath responds: There are benefits to timeshares and that’s one of the reasons the market has developed in the past 50 years. One of the top benefits is the relatively small minimum investment, in that you are buying a right to use a property for a part of the year, rather than purchasing a property outright.

Beyond that, most are flexible and offer floating dates during which the timeshare can be used. But no doubt some people miss the window, as is the case with this reader.

Some timeshares even allow the opportunity to sublet, effectively buying into a timeshare and then renting it out to make the investment an income-generating one.

Timeshares may also offer the opportunity to trade the market and swap timeshares with other owners.

It all sounds exciting, enticing and exotic, but make no mistake, the timeshare business is just that — a business. Businesses exist primarily to make money for the owners.

One of the common criticisms of timeshares is that the maintenance fees tend to increase at more than the rate of inflation. So what seems like a good deal when you crunch the numbers initially could end up being not so — as the reader says, “the maintenance fees are killing us.”

Beyond that, not unlike a deferred sales charge mutual fund, timeshares are ultimately contracts and may have a lock-in period or other punitive restrictions.

Most timeshares can be resold to the management company you bought them from, so if you do want to divest yourself of the investment, start off by contacting them first to see what the worst-case scenario is for resale. There are also professionals who can value your timeshare and assist in selling it to a third party. Beyond that, the internet has created a do-it-yourself market for just about everything, including selling your own timeshare privately.

One thing to keep in mind is that a timeshare is a legal contract that allows you the use of a property in exchange for the payment of maintenance fees. It’s not unlike a car lease — except that the payments may never come to an end. Not paying those maintenance fees can be considered a breach of contract and have legal and financial ramifications.

All timeshares should in theory have a value. But if you don’t want to go through the hassle of finding a seller and the key priority is stopping the maintenance fee madness, consider donating or giving your time share away. Donating would be the preferable route, because at least you’ll get a donation receipt that will provide you with some income tax relief. A number of organizations accept donations of deeded timeshares and then sell the intervals, with the proceeds going to a charity of charities of your choice.

I’d never walk away from a financial obligation, even if you figured it wouldn’t come back to bite you, because, well, chances are, it would.

Jason Heath is a fee-only certified financial planner and income tax professional for Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Toronto.